25 Sint Maarten residents seek shelter in Netherlands

The Dutch government is trying to find shelter for 25 Sint Maarten residents. They flew to the Netherlands and asked for help after Hurricane Irma destroyed their homes, RTL Nieuws reports.

According to Minister Ronald Plasterk of Home Affairs, the 25 people involved reported themselves in municipalities in the Netherlands, because their homes were completely destroyed in the hurricane. The Minister is currently consulting with municipalities, the Salvation Army and the central agency for asylum seekers COA to try and find them somewhere to stay, he said in a debate in the Tweede Kamer.

Hurricane Irma - a category 5 hurricane - hit the islands of Sint Maarten, Saba and Sint Eustatius on September 6th. Sint Maarten sustained the most damage. Shortly after the disaster, the Red Cross reported that 91 percent of the buildings on Sint Maarten were damaged.